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Know your Facts: Lifting Weights

Blog by: Sulagna Das

Whenever you go to the gym, you’ll find a series of various sized dumbbells in one of the corners. Now, men flock over to that section with much ease than us woman. ‘Cause, honestly we don’t want to become the she-Hulk of the town. We’re not one of those CrossFit types, right?
Well, let me tell you a secret: what if I say that you won’t get bulky if you lift weights? Just very toned and very fit.
Lifting weights has now become a religiously followed part of the routine for most workout regimes. Men are more dedicated to it than women because of the fear of becoming too heavy and muscular. They do not want to lose that touch of femininity. But that is a myth.
Lifting weights will not turn you into an oiled version of a female body builder. That takes a lot of effort than just lifting weights.

There quite a number of benefits when it come working out with weights. Despite a prevalent allegiance to cardio machines for things like weight loss and overall health, strength training not only builds muscle but can prevent disease, improve mood and actually help you lose weight. Here a few reasons to include weights in your workout procedure:

More Muscle, Less Fat: If you want to have another slice without the guilt crushing you, lift weight. Researchers from Boston University has come to a conclusion that type II muscle fibres help in increasing whole body metabolism. You grow more type II muscle fibres when you lift weights. An experiment carried out in mice confirmed this theory and lift weights might also be helpful in fighting obesity. It also burns extra calories, thereby breaking down fat and growing more muscle.

Bone Improvement: With age, you naturally lose your muscle and bone mass. This is of a special concern to women because they have a smaller skeletal frame and become dangerously weakened by age. Lifting weight increase bone density and reduce chances of fractures. The bones also adapt to the newly formed muscles and become stronger.

Boosts your Heart Health: Blood flow improves and there is a 20% decrease in blood pressure for a 30-45 minute workout. The effects remain for 24 hours in people who exercise regularly.

But sometimes, lifting weights regularly might cause you more harm than good if you push yourself too hard. Vigorous routines might end up in the following disadvantages:

Muscle soreness: Sore muscles and ache may cause if your strain yourself too much in the beginning of a new workout. Overuse of your muscles might also result in immense pain and swelling.

Stress fractures: Stress fractures are tiny cracks in the bone and are caused by repetitive force and overuse, such as repeated jumping or running long distances. This condition is more common in women than men in weight bearing bones like lower legs and feet. Extreme weight lifting might lead to overuse of muscles leading to putting a force on the bones.

Tendonitis: Excessive exercise might lead to inflammation of the tendons, which join muscles to bones.

Joint pains: Excess lifting of weights may lead to osteoporosis and inflammation of the joints. Once damaged, the hyaline cartilages take a very long time to heal.

Now that you know your facts, decide carefully on how you can implement weight training in your regimen and try not to over-do it.